Bidding on an upgrade

[WoorimBeachLady]

[bluemarble]

10 hours ago, WoorimBeachLady said:

 

@WoorimBeachLady, did you find this on the Cunard UK website (at https://www.cunard.com/en-gb/stateroom-upgrade which is accessible from Australia/New Zealand)?

 

Or have you managed to find it somewhere on the Cunard website for Australia/New Zealand (at www.cunard.com/en-au/...)? I haven't been able to find it anywhere on the '/en-au/' site although I suppose I just might not be looking in the right place.

Edited August 10, 2023 by bluemarble

[palomarboy]

There is a link to check but they should send an email as well.  I did get an email.  I did use a TA, I am in the US and the cruise was showing sold out when I received the offer 30 days out.  This was for a QM2 crossing.  I booked about 70 days out.  At the time they only had sheltered balconies and they were priced well. They had QG but I didn’t want to spend 10k on a last minute trip.  The offer was for a regular balcony or britannia club.  I would have booked club if I had the option and since the cruise showed sold out I did bid competitively.  Today, 8 days out they accepted my bid.  The total cost is less than what I would have paid outright.  I have a world segment cruise in February.  I checked but I’m not eligible to upgrade (probably too soon). I booked a PQ for that one so I’m probably not going to bid too much for an upgrade but I’ll probably put some offer above minimum if I’m eligible.

[3rdGenCunarder]

38 minutes ago, palomarboy said:

There is a link to check but they should send an email as well.  I did get an email.  I did use a TA, I am in the US and the cruise was showing sold out when I received the offer 30 days out.  This was for a QM2 crossing.  I booked about 70 days out.  At the time they only had sheltered balconies and they were priced well. They had QG but I didn’t want to spend 10k on a last minute trip.  The offer was for a regular balcony or britannia club.  I would have booked club if I had the option and since the cruise showed sold out I did bid competitively.  Today, 8 days out they accepted my bid.  The total cost is less than what I would have paid outright.  I have a world segment cruise in February.  I checked but I’m not eligible to upgrade (probably too soon). I booked a PQ for that one so I’m probably not going to bid too much for an upgrade but I’ll probably put some offer above minimum if I’m eligible.

 

What do you mean by "bid competitively?" How far on the bar did you push the slider or on the little dial push the needle?

Edited August 10, 2023 by 3rdGenCunarder

[palomarboy]

The low bid was $350 or so and the high bid was $1150.  I bid $800.  The dial was still low mid-range even though the bid was on the higher side.  I'm not sure that I put much faith in that dial.  Also, I probably wouldn't have gone so high had the cruise not shown sold-out.  Sometimes, a cruise line opens up a few cabins, but this has been sold-out the entire time since I received the upgrade offer.  On airlines I usually bid just above the minimum.  

[WoorimBeachLady]

This was on Cunard.com, so the UK site I assume. 80 days out..

[El turista]

I bid the max for an upgrade and it still shows as pending but the category I bid shows as sold out. How does that work?

 

Anyone of you bid the max and still didn't get upgraded?

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, El turista said:

I bid the max for an upgrade and it still shows as pending but the category I bid shows as sold out. How does that work?

 

Anyone of you bid the max and still didn't get upgraded?

 

You're waiting for cabins in a higher category to open as other people get upgraded.

 

I'm in Britannia on my next cruise and my offer was to bid up to Club or PG. I did a quick price check online and saw that they're sold out. But QG is not sold out. So perhaps someone in Club or PG will bid and get upgraded to QG, opening a spot for me (fingers crossed!) in PG. So until they make the decisions about upgrading people to QG, I'll be waiting to see what happens.

 

For my cruise, bidding the max would have been as expensive as booking PG to begin with, so I bid somewhere in the middle.

 

[palomarboy]

Every cabin was sold out but I still got an upgrade.  With the max bid you probably will get the upgrade but there are many variables that make them wait until very close to sailing.  With over a thousand cabins there will be no shows and shuttling folks around.  I have heard full price bids being denied but your chances are pretty good.  Good Luck.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I just looked at my October cruise. Now QG is sold out and there's one PG open. Who knows what that means...

[alibabacruisers]

I checked our eligibility and it said our cruise was not eligible.  For several weeks it has shown nearly sold out except for 1 QG but today not the QG is gone and only 1 OV available. 

 

This will be our first Cunard cruise since 2019 so we are beyond excited!  We also have booked the 2025 QV to South America because we have never been, number one.  Number two, we have never done a full WC AND number 3, we have not been on QV.  How thrilling!!!  We did a 74-night in 2015 and that was so great!

[Pushpit]

Just another data point to add to this. I've had a Plusgrade invitation for the 15 December 7 night crossing. I am in a Sheltered Balcony at the moment, quite happy with that. The two offers Plusgrade has offered me are

 

- Balcony (as opposed to Sheltered Balcony), advertised minima £120 = £240 since I'm solo.

- Balcony Club = £270 "per person" = £540 in reality.

 

The current fare differences are around £240 and £1200 respectively, so the first offer isn't a bargain, I could ring up and for similar money have some control as to which stateroom I would get. The second offer could better value at the lower bid scales, but would have certain uncertainties attached to it, including no choice of stateroom.

 

I'm mulling this is a bit, but 90% disinclined to bid for the Club. On a December crossing a sheltered balcony has a lot of advantages so the flat Balcony upgrade does nothing for me, they would have to pay me to move. For Club, the two advantages are a bit of priority boarding plus the Club dining areas. Plus the slightly better bathroom. Club dining probably is worth something, but the > £540 would be enough for another 3 night sailing. Plus I'd still want to keep the Sheltered Balcony on the whole.

Edited September 27, 2023 by Pushpit

[Gomac]

Thanks for the data point. 
 

Has anyone received an upgrade offer from a Sheltered Balcony to Princess on the QM2 TAs or is Britannia Club the highest they will offer?

[TouchstoneFeste]

1 hour ago, Gomac said:

Thanks for the data point. 
 

Has anyone received an upgrade offer from a Sheltered Balcony to Princess on the QM2 TAs or is Britannia Club the highest they will offer?

Not quite sure how they structure the offers. We're in a Q5 on the same crossing as @Pushpit and got the offer to bid on upgrades all the way to Q1.

[Liberal_Baggie]

Yes just got the upgrade offer in Princess grill at moment Dec 15th crossing and Xmas Caribbean 19 nights and staying put... unless they offer free upgrade...

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, Liberal_Baggie said:

Yes just got the upgrade offer in Princess grill at moment Dec 15th crossing and Xmas Caribbean 19 nights and staying put... unless they offer free upgrade...

Don’t think there are any free upgrades anymore. Not heard of anyone getting one since bidding started. 

[Winifred 22]

3 hours ago, Pushpit said:

Just another data point to add to this. I've had a Plusgrade invitation for the 15 December 7 night crossing. I am in a Sheltered Balcony at the moment, quite happy with that. The two offers Plusgrade has offered me are

 

- Balcony (as opposed to Sheltered Balcony), advertised minima £120 = £240 since I'm solo.

- Balcony Club = £270 "per person" = £540 in reality.

 

The current fare differences are around £240 and £1200 respectively, so the first offer isn't a bargain, I could ring up and for similar money have some control as to which stateroom I would get. The second offer could better value at the lower bid scales, but would have certain uncertainties attached to it, including no choice of stateroom.

 

I'm mulling this is a bit, but 90% disinclined to bid for the Club. On a December crossing a sheltered balcony has a lot of advantages so the flat Balcony upgrade does nothing for me, they would have to pay me to move. For Club, the two advantages are a bit of priority boarding plus the Club dining areas. Plus the slightly better bathroom. Club dining probably is worth something, but the > £540 would be enough for another 3 night sailing. Plus I'd still want to keep the Sheltered Balcony on the whole.

I wouldn’t want to lose  the sheltered balcony It was a god send on my August 14 night TA when it was so windy the decks were closed. and like you as a solo I am  annoyed we have to pay the double upgrade. I am with you as well that £540 would get you a 3/4 nighter which I would definitely prefer. 3 x this summer they didn’t include B C in the priority boarding anyway They called QG PG Diamond and then Platinum. I particularly listened out as I had been pulled up on here that B C had priority after PG and before Diamond. 

[Victoria2]

31 minutes ago, Winifred 22 said:

I wouldn’t want to lose  the sheltered balcony It was a god send on my August 14 night TA when it was so windy the decks were closed. and like you as a solo I am  annoyed we have to pay the double upgrade. I am with you as well that £540 would get you a 3/4 nighter which I would definitely prefer. 3 x this summer they didn’t include B C in the priority boarding anyway They called QG PG Diamond and then Platinum. I particularly listened out as I had been pulled up on here that B C had priority after PG and before Diamond. 

They have yet another call category  in Southampton which went 'Green Cards. QG,'  and then I presume PG, Diamond etc

 

'Green cards' caused a little stir with our American friends. 🙂

[Winifred 22]

13 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

They have yet another call category  in Southampton which went 'Green Cards. QG,'  and then I presume PG, Diamond etc

 

'Green cards' caused a little stir with our American friends. 🙂

Oh I have not heard that one before even on the T A crossing mind you that was the day it was a bit chaotic at Mayflower as the fire alarms had gone off so everyone was evacuated. I was running late so was able to go straight in when they opened up. Those who had been waiting for security went straight back and joined they queue. They just let any one priority check in so in the end was a very swift embarkation not counting the half  hour wait outside. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I just booked one of the new 2025 cruises. The pricing is crazy. I chose the refundable deposit price (Explore With More), not the lowest fare guarantee cabin. As I was selecting my cabin, in the menu with all the choices, in the cabin grade box it suggested upgrading to BC and gave a price. But when I made the change, the price was more. So they teased me with the guarantee price, but then showed me the "Explore" price. I've never seen an upgrade suggestion like that before. They're pushing the upgrade thing from the get-go.

 

Question about the bidding (to get back to the original topic), what about "do not upgrade" on the reservation? I always tick that because I choose the cabin I want. I bid on an upgrade to PG for my cruise later this month, not remembering that my booking says do not upgrade. So does that mean they won't accept my bid? Moot because at 3 weeks out, there's unlikely to be an opening anyway, but I'm curious.

[Winifred 22]

1 hour ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

I just booked one of the new 2025 cruises. The pricing is crazy. I chose the refundable deposit price (Explore With More), not the lowest fare guarantee cabin. As I was selecting my cabin, in the menu with all the choices, in the cabin grade box it suggested upgrading to BC and gave a price. But when I made the change, the price was more. So they teased me with the guarantee price, but then showed me the "Explore" price. I've never seen an upgrade suggestion like that before. They're pushing the upgrade thing from the get-go.

 

Question about the bidding (to get back to the original topic), what about "do not upgrade" on the reservation? I always tick that because I choose the cabin I want. I bid on an upgrade to PG for my cruise later this month, not remembering that my booking says do not upgrade. So does that mean they won't accept my bid? Moot because at 3 weeks out, there's unlikely to be an opening anyway, but I'm curious.

The tick box would have applied to the potential free upgrades in the past. The bidding system is completely different as it comes with the additional cost of whatever may be accepted as your bid if you are lucky. 

[Pushpit]

Another data point from me, this time for a January 2 nighter Southampton to Hamburg. I'm in a obstructed balcony and like with my December Crossing, Plusgrade offered me two higher categories, so full balcony (not obstructed view) and Club Balcony. The Club offer had a minima per person of just £40 pp, so £80 for one person. And indeed fares have fallen a lot since I booked. So I rang up and got a confirmed price upgrade, which was for £150, but (a) I'm confirmed and (b) I could select the stateroom number. Though not a total bargain, it's well below the usual Club price for a 2 nighter.

 

The point I wanted to table here, though, was that after the payment was made and the new Booking Confirmation generated for a Club Balcony, overnight I got a new Plusgrade offer, this time for Princess and Queens, so the next two levels. Specifically P1, P2, and Q5, Q6 and Q3, Q4. So if you want to get an upgrade to the Grills you need to be at least Club, but it may be worth paying for Club in order to put yourself in that bid scenario.

 

The prices per person - minima bid - were

P1, P2 = £40 per person

Q5, Q6 = £80 per person

Q3, Q4= £110 per person.

I put in a low bid for P1, P2, if it works then I'll be in Princess for a total of £640 (solo traveller) rather than a more typical cost of around £850.

[techteach]

Good luck @Pushpit.

[newbie202020]

I thought that you can't choose the stateroom number for upgrades. That's why I don't bid for upgrades or put myself down for free upgrades as I need mid ship to avoid motion sickness. If there's an upgrade program where I can choose the location, then I would definitely be interested.

 

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

[Winifred 22]

My daughter has just got her upgrade through . She had no choice of location. She has  done well as went from inside forward to midship standard balcony for £80 p p. She could only select balcony or sheltered balcony. No deck or position choice. Don’t risk it if you have a cabin location that suits. This info applies to U K bookings only. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by Winifred 22